The “journey” starts off in the presence of God and we then travel through the immensity of space to reach the Earth, the place where God determined that our mortal experience would take place. Our purpose in this mortal life is to learn and progress so that we can return to the presence of God. I depict the place where one gains the knowledge of how to make this return journey as the temple. Temples have been built since the beginning of mankind’s history so that we could gain our bearings in the universe, learning where we came from and how to get back there.  I include a depiction of the procession at Solomon’s temple dedication, which procession I believe was meant to represent the ascent from the Earth through the heavens and back into God’s presence. This was a ritual enactment of what they expected to someday be a reality for them. Then the actual ascent/journey back through the heavens is depicted, ending with a vision of Christ on His Throne, the Godhead, and ultimate enthronement of the individual.

I could have included many more relevant images, but this was just a fun exercise for me in putting together a video.

I am posting a couple of other great videos that James from Lehi’s Library pointed out to me.

They were both put together for NOVA : the first is a reconstruction of Solomon’s Temple (which is much better done than the one I previously posted), and also a video about Asherah as a possible Hebrew Goddess, the wife of God. Some very interesting material!

(You may recognize some of this as having been included in David Tayman’s and my video The Temple: Part One — Sacred Space)

See More El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron Various at IGN.com

I’m not much into video gaming these days (more of a lack of time than lack of interest really), but this one looks pretty neat, especially since it involves a character named Enoch and his struggle with the Fallen Angels, led by none other than Lucifer himself.  At this point it is difficult to determine how closely the game will actually follow the themes of the Enochic literature, but from the short descriptions I have read it seems that they have at least remained faithful to the principal elements of the narrative.  From the title, it seems that “heavenly ascent” will be a theme in it somehow.

It seems a bit odd to have this very Jewish title and background fit into a very Japanese action-adventure video game, but just the idea of getting to play the role of Enoch/Metatron is enough to get me curious!  How cool is that?!? Unfortunately (for me) it will only be released on XBox 360 and Playstation 3, neither of which I own.

To read more about the game, check out this gaming website here or here.

This is the official “teaser” website, although it doesn’t have much on it yet: http://elshaddai.jp/index.html

Here are some screenshots from the game:

And here is the teaser trailer, although it really doesn’t show much at all.

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Steve:

I’m new to your Heavenly Ascents blog – it looks fascinating and well researched.

I have two questions, if you would be kind enough to consider them: I was introduced to the ascent motif via the work of the late Morton Smith, who postulated that a mystical method of heavenly ascent was extant in Jesus’ time and that Jesus and his disciples may have had some personal experience with this practice. I realize that some of Smith’s statements were likely issued with a twinkle in his eye (did he forge Secret Mark, etc.), but he does seem to make a serious case for ascent in Jewish culture even before Jesus’ time, e.g., he points out that at least one other person “ascended” – one member of the DSS community, as reported in 4Q 491, who claimed to have ascended into the angelic assembly and to have gained divine wisdom thereby.

First question: But there are claims that most Jewish ascent literature came after Jesus’ time, too late to influence and/or be expressive of primitive Christian beliefs. I am unclear on this timeline. Some say, for example, that some of this literature was too late to have been strongly influential in nascent “Jewish Christianity”, with Enoch maybe dating from that time but maybe from a later time. So would you be able to firm up for me the time frame of ascent literature as it might bear on the religion of Jesus, his disciples, and their Jewish successors, say, until after the Second Revolt in CE 135? I.e., can we date extra-biblical ascent literature from Jesus’ own lifetime up until just after the final Jewish War?

The second question concerns what, from my admittedly meager reading, poses a mystery vis a vis the Jewish nature of ascent literature. I understand that with the rise of rabbinical Judaism post-Jamnia, orthodoxy was stressed, e.g., per Alan Segal, the rabbis came down on anything smacking of a “Two Powers in Heaven” belief, beliefs concerning a Chief Assisting Angel, and beliefs about God’s human form or “Kavod”. What puzzles me is that post-70 ascent literature – IF Jewish – seems to be replete with just those kinds of beliefs that were being more and more strongly condemned by the rabbis. Do we conclude from this (if my assumption is correct) that ascent authors and communities were not Jewish; or if they were Jewish, they were by definition heretical? And if they were heretical, by what means were these ideas promulgated and texts preserved?

Thanks for your consideration.

Regards,

Steve Bastasch¹

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Me:

Dear Mr Bastasch,

Thank you for your excellent and very relevant questions. Before I give my response, just as a forewarning, although my website is called Heavenly Ascents, I cannot claim to be an expert (yet!) on the topic, so bear that in mind as I give you my best answers to your questions.

I will begin by saying (and this may shape your opinion of my overall answer!) that in my estimation, the ascent to heaven motif is of great antiquity, much older even than the mentions attested to in the Qumran texts. It may not have been conceived of in exactly the same ways that it is later expressed in the Christian era, but I think that later texts build on these earlier attestations of the motif.

When I say much older, I believe that a form of heavenly ascent was practiced as a ritual in the pre-exilic times, the First Temple period. I base this conclusion partially on what I see as evidence for the idea in the liturgical setting of some of the Psalms. I believe that psalms such as 24, 47, 68, 118, and 132 (and others, cf. 139:8) describe a procession(s) that involved ascending the temple mount in order to reach the throne of God in the Temple. The Hebrew word for ascent (ʽālâ), is often used in this context. The expressed purpose of the ascent, according to Psalm 24:6, was to “seek the face of the God of Jacob” (see RSV or similar translation). The features of this ritualized ascent share many of the same features as the later ascent narratives, including passing through gates with guardians (Pss. 15, 24, 118 imply that there is a question-and-answer dialogue between those desiring to be found worthy of entry and the gatekeepers), seeing the Lord on his throne (Ps. 24:6; cf. Isa. 6, etc.), exaltation and enthronement of the individual (Pss. 2, 110, 89, etc.), and other similar features. While I can’t give a full description here, I believe that all this describes a practice of a primitive heavenly ascent ritual. The holy mountain with the temple at its pinnacle, while obviously located physically on earth, represented the mountain of God that reached into the heavens upon which God’s throne was located.

Whether one accepts these ideas and others in the Hebrew Bible as authentic precursors to the later ascent literature or not, I think there is still very good evidence that the belief in and practice of heavenly ascent was common in Jewish circles well before the Christian era. You mention the works of Morton Smith — he did some good research on this topic. However, you should take a look at the more recent work of James Davila in his article on heavenly ascents in the Dead Sea Scrolls in The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment (vol. 2; Brill, 1999), edited by Peter Flint and James VanderKam. Besides the one example of the anonymous figure ascending that you mention (4Q 491), Davila cites five other examples of ascent found at Qumran, including narratives of the heavenly ascent of Enoch, Melchizedek, Levi, Methuselah, and perhaps also Noah (4Q534) and Moses (4Q374, although this text is very unclear). Besides these, there are phrases from some of the sectarian literature that perhaps assume a belief in heavenly ascent. For example, in the Hodayot there are lines such as “You have exalted his [man's] glory beyond flesh” (7:21) and “[s]ons of God to be united with the sons of heaven” (frg. 2 10) and 11:19-23 where the speaker claims to have been “raised eternally to an exalted realm in communion of praise with the angels” (quoting Davila’s summary). Although the nature of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice is much debated, and Davila expresses doubts in this article, elsewhere he and also other scholars such as Crispin Fletcher-Louis, have described this text as possibly narrating a heavenly ascent ritual performed at Qumran. In the Davila article above, he emphasizes the fact that there seems to be a “ritual context” and “experiential component” behind these ascent texts. For me, this is all pretty clear evidence for the practice of a heavenly ascent ritual before the time of Jesus Christ. If you look at some of the works of Old Testament scholar Margaret Barker, this is the assumption that she is working with as well.

As far as the age of the Enochic literature, I follow the general opinion that the oldest sections of 1 Enoch were likely written around 300 BC and the latest sections around the first century BC. Martha Himmelfarb, in her classic Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses considers 1 Enoch’s “Book of the Watchers” (ca. 3rd Century BC) to be the earliest “ascent apocalypse”. 2 Enoch, which has a much clearer account of the ascent to heaven, is a much later text, probably from the first century AD. It is debatable whether this is originally a Jewish or Christian text. Coming up with a timeline for specific texts is very tricky and scholars have widely diverging opinions on when some of these texts were originally penned and by what group — Jewish or Christian. There certainly seems to be a blooming of this type of literature in the first few centuries of the Christian era, and these texts are preserved more often by the hands of Christians than Jews — this fact, however, does not mean that they were not originally written by Jews, and it is possible that some of these texts are considerably older than the attested examples. It is very difficult to tell. I’m sorry that I don’t have more specific details for you, but in my opinion, we can be quite certain, based on the examples I mentioned above and others, that the ascent idea was quite prevalent in at least some Jewish circles well before the time of Christ, and may have even been a main feature of the pre-exilic Israelite religion. Although Martha Himmelfarb is one that would perhaps deny this, I also believe that beyond, and perhaps in some cases accompanying, the ancient narratives regarding ascent, there was also an ascent praxis.

For a great treatment of the idea of the “mysteries” in connection with human access to the divine council at Qumran, see Samuel I. Thomas’s very recent book, The “Mysteries” of Qumran: Mystery, Secrecy, and Esotericism in the Dead Sea Scrolls. It doesn’t go into the “heavenly ascent” idea in much detail, but I think connections with ascent literature are not hard to make.

Why do we get so much talk of chief angels and the anthropomorphic Kavod in the ascent literature? My opinion is that these ideas are perpetuations of very old motifs that for some reason are well-preserved in this type of literature. If you look at the studies of scholars like Gabriele Boccaccini and others, you get the idea that there was a much larger degree of pluralism in early Judaism than most imagine. There seem to have been several different Jewish sects (even beyond the Pharisee, Sadducee, Essene, etc. divisions that we usually hear about). Some scholars claim that some of these Jewish sects preserved the older Israelite religion better than others. In the Second Temple period, some of the mainstream groups seemed to be very interested in reforming and reshaping the Jewish religion — censoring older ideas that they now found heretical. Theoretically, many of these ideas that they wanted to discard involved the possibility of heavenly ascent, of seeing God on his throne, of any “Two Powers” notions, etc. It seems that these issues were hotly debated well before the rise of Christianity. According to some, this may have been why the “sectarians” went to Qumran. The religious tenets that they held to had become unacceptable by the mainstream. Rabbinical Judaism would develop out of this mainstream of “Zadokite” Judaism and would continue to try to purge Jewish culture of these beliefs that they found heretical. It appears that the early Christians had beliefs that were in line with, or similar to, some of these “other” Jewish groups that were unacceptable to the Rabbis.

I don’t believe that all of the post-70 ascent literature was Christian. I think that a lot of it was originally Jewish, but that it came from Jewish groups that were outside of the Rabbinic mainstream. I think a lot of the literature was eventually preserved only by Christians because they had very similar beliefs and because the Jewish groups that would have possibly written the texts and could have preserved them eventually waned under Rabbinic suppression. However, we do see that there were Jewish circles that did preserve many of these more “mystical” ideas into medieval times and beyond (e.g. merkavah mysticism, hekhalot texts, Kabbalah, Sefer Yetzirah, Zohar, etc.). It seems that some of the groups that preserved these traditions were more ascetical and priestly and were generally opposed by the Rabbis. If you look at E.R. Goodenough’s work on the Dura Europos synagogue, which is full of mystical and ascent motifs, you can get an idea for how and by whom some of these ideas were perpetuated in Jewish circles. I believe that both Christians and these “sidelined” Jewish groups preserved this material because they believed that it was part of a more authentic ancient Israelite belief system that had roots in the First Temple period and that had not been so altered by reformers.

For more on this line of thinking, see Margaret Barker’s The Older Testament, The Great Angel: A Study of Israel’s Second God, Temple Themes in Christian Worship, or pretty much any other book of hers.

I’m sorry if my thoughts here are more general than specific, but feel free to ask me any further questions. I would enjoy further discussing these ideas.

Cheers,

David

1. Author’s name reproduced with permission

PSEUDEPIGRAPHA WATCH: The Pope cites a couple of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha in his Easter Vigil homily. First, from the Life of Adam and Eve:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

An ancient Jewish legend from the apocryphal book “The life of Adam and Eve” recounts that, in his final illness, Adam sent his son Seth together with Eve into the region of Paradise to fetch the oil of mercy, so that he could be anointed with it and healed. The two of them went in search of the tree of life, and after much praying and weeping on their part, the Archangel Michael appeared to them, and told them they would not obtain the oil of the tree of mercy and that Adam would have to die. Subsequently, Christian readers added a word of consolation to the Archangel’s message, to the effect that after 5,500 years the loving King, Christ, would come, the Son of God who would anoint all those who believe in him with the oil of his mercy. “The oil of mercy from eternity to eternity will be given to those who are reborn of water and the Holy Spirit. Then the Son of God, Christ, abounding in love, will descend into the depths of the earth and will lead your father into Paradise, to the tree of mercy.” This legend lays bare the whole of humanity’s anguish at the destiny of illness, pain and death that has been imposed upon us.

This story is from L.A.E. 35-42. There’s been much scholarly discussion of the Life of Adam and Eve in recent years and the current consensus is that it is a Christian work. I don’t know that that affects the Pope’s point, though.

Second, a citation from 2 Enoch:

Once again, an ancient Jewish text can help us form an idea of the mysterious process that begins in us at baptism. There it is recounted how the patriarch Enoch was taken up to the throne of God. But he was filled with fear in the presence of the glorious angelic powers, and in his human weakness he could not contemplate the face of God. “Then God said to Michael,” to quote from the book of Enoch, “‘Take Enoch and remove his earthly clothing. Anoint him with sweet oil and vest him in the robes of glory!’ And Michael took off my garments, anointed me with sweet oil, and this oil was more than a radiant light … its splendour was like the rays of the sun. When I looked at myself, I saw that I was like one of the glorious beings” (Ph. Rech, Inbild des Kosmos, II 524).

The quotation is from 2 Enoch 22. Again, it is debatable whether 2 Enoch is a Jewish or a Christian work. It may well have ancient Jewish elements in it but later Christian elements may well also be present. And in this case, that may make some difference, in that the baptismal connection may be even closer than the Pope posits, which perhaps would add support to his comparison.

I will mention, briefly, some cool experiences I had this week in attending my courses.  In Kristin de Troyer’s  text criticism class, we went to the library and looked at exact replicas of the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus.  The two books are some of the oldest Christian documents in existence. The Codex Vaticanus, specifically, is the oldest complete copy of the Bible in existence, having been put together in the 4th Century. From what I understood, and I am no expert on the history of the biblical canon, this codex was the first “Bible” ever put together. Before this, there were only diverse, separate manuscripts (at least for the NT). The Codex Vaticanus, as it was explained to me, is what gives us the concept of the Bible as one complete book. This is interesting as someone was just recently talking to me about how the Bible has been complete — one organic whole– since the time of the apostles. Of course I knew that that was not the case, but it was neat to see the book (at least a replica of it) that was the first full Bible (centuries after Christ).

My course with Jim Davila was also eventful. We looked at the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice and the Hodayot, which are documents that I am looking at for my dissertation. It was interesting to see the distress on the students’ faces as we discussed issues of “suprahuman priests”, angelified humans, heavenly ascents, and deification (all of which are featured in these writings).  When explaining that these people probably practiced a ritualized heavenly ascent which resulted in their deification, Davila called this notion “performative deification.”

I’ll leave you with that…

As those who are LDS are studying the Old Testament this year in our Sunday School curriculum, this book is an amazing resource for studying the Book of Moses — this sometimes neglected, but so important book of Latter-day scripture. To learn more about the book, visit the official website at: www.imageandlikeness.net

And now for part 5 (the exciting conclusion) of this series. We delve into Dr. Bradshaw’s background as a scientist, and his ideas on the topics of Mormonism and Science, the Origin of Man, the literalness of the Bible, Scripture reading techniques, and other poignant topics. Dr. Bradshaw’s answers are simply fascinating.

[David] You have some interesting excurses on Mormonism and Science and also on the Origin of Man. Can you tell us about some of your background and experience that led you to want to comment on these topics?

[Dr. Jeff Bradshaw] During my daily work at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, I’m caught up in thinking about and implementing new science and technology ideas that can complement and augment human physical, cognitive, and social capabilities. It’s a dream job, and I wouldn’t want to trade places with anyone I know. However, it’s a challenge in the sense that I can’t stand still. Although it’s true that every innovation builds to a degree on the past, the pace of change is so rapid that I find myself constantly throwing away the results of recent ideas and developments that can now be replaced with better approaches.

In addition to the obvious spiritual enrichment that I find in studying the scriptures and other ancient documents, it is wonderful and satisfying to work on something where knowledge is much more cumulative than in my daily work. Though, of course, there are exciting new findings that appear every day in the world of scripture exegesis and ancient studies, I can have the sense over time of continually building up a deeper understanding of the diverse puzzle pieces that constitute major keys to understanding the world of religious history and teachings over the centuries. Complementing the keys that come from study are those that come from faith, as I try to discern the hand of God in such things, and as I relate the spiritual experiences of the past to divine guidance and teachings in the immediate context of my own life.

I like what Donald Knuth, a well-known computer scientist when I was younger, wrote in the preface to his book of Bible commentary: “I can’t say that my scientific background makes me a better Bible student, but I don’t think it’s a handicap either” (D. E. Knuth, 3:16, p. 2). The apostle Paul advocated a very empirical approach to spiritual things: “Prove [i.e., examine, put to the test] all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). I feel greatly blessed to have been raised in a community of faith that values truth and goodness, and in a church that, because of its unique status in being led by modern revelation, does not have any reason to fear the bright light of close examination. I feel fortunate to be able to say with conviction that the moorings of my own faith are as deeply grounded in my daily experience as is my knowledge of everyday things.

[David] How would you evaluate the compatibility or relationship between Mormonism and Science? Are they mutually exclusive?

[Dr. Jeff Bradshaw] Science and Mormonism have nearly always been on very friendly terms, with Church members sharing the deep conviction that, as expressed by former scientist and apostle Elder James E. Talmage, “within the gospel of Jesus Christ there is room and place for every truth thus far learned by man, or yet to be made known” (J. E. Talmage, Earth and Man, p. 252). With respect to the idea that the Church is required to welcome religious and moral truth from all sources, President Brigham Young stated:

“Mormonism”… embraces every principle pertaining to life and salvation… no matter who has it. If the [unbeliever] has got truth, it belongs to “Mormonism.” The truth and sound doctrine possessed by [other churches], and they have a great deal, all belong to this Church… All that is good, lovely, and praiseworthy belongs to this Church… “Mormonism” includes all truth. There is no truth but what belongs to the Gospel (B. Young, 8 April 1867, p. 375; B. Young, Discourses, p. 3).

With specific regard to scientific truth, President Young’s approach was no less open and all-embracing. As Barlow summarizes:

Brigham Young’s position was in one sense more “liberal” even than that of [many contemporaries]. Not a scholar himself and easily put off by what he saw as scholars’… pretentious ways, Young still wished to distance the Mormon response to science from what he took to be the common Christian reaction. Widespread infidelity in the world did not surprise him, he said, because religious teachers often advanced notions “in opposition to… facts demonstrated by science,” making it difficult for honest, informed people to embrace the claims of religion. Geology, to take a specific instance, “is a true science; not that I would say for a moment that all the conclusions and deductions of its professors are true, but its leading principles are; they are facts.…” “[Our] geologists… tell us that this earth has been in existence for thousands and millions of years… [and Mormonism] differ[s] from the Christian world, for our religion will not clash with the facts of science” (P. L. Barlow, Bible, pp. 90-91. See B. Young, 14 May 1871, pp. 115-117).

Moreover, President Young said:

The idea that the religion of Christ is one thing, and science is another, is a mistaken idea, for there is no true religion without true science, and consequently there is no true science without true religion (B. Young, 3 May 1874, p. 52).

Subsequent Presidents and General Authorities of the Church have advanced similar views about the ultimate compatibility of religious and scientific truths and, with notably few exceptions, have maintained markedly positive attitudes toward both the methods and conclusions of mainstream science and the advance of modern technology. A barometer for the positive attitude toward science among the membership of the Church has been a series of studies over the last several decades documenting numbers of scientists with backgrounds in different faith groups (see, e.g., the summary in J. M. Bradshaw, Image and Likeness, pp. 526-527, 707-708). In nearly every scientific meeting that I attend, Mormons are overrepresented when compared with our percentage of the general population.

With respect to the creation accounts in scripture, the Latter-day Saints have avoided some of the serious clashes with science that have troubled other religious traditions. For example, we have no serious quarrel with the concept of a very old earth whose “days” of creation seem to have been of very long, overlapping, and varying duration (Alma 40:8; B. R. McConkie, Christ and the Creation, p. 11; B. Young, 17 September 1876, p. 23). Joseph Smith is remembered as having taught that the heavenly bodies were created long prior to the earth: “… the starry hosts were worlds and suns and universes, some of which had being millions of ages before the earth had physical form” (E. W. Tullidge, Women, p. 178). Consistent with this stance, LDS scientist David Bailey has very competently summarized scientific inadequacies and theological incompatibilities of the creationist movement in both its “young earth” and “intelligent design” forms (e.g., D. H. Bailey, Mormonism; D. H. Bailey, Deceiver; D. H. Bailey, Latter-day; D. H. Bailey, Church and Evolution; D. H. Bailey, What’s Wrong). Despite what some advocates of a creationist agenda would have people believe, to question specific features of the theories they have advanced is not tantamount to rejecting the concept of a Divine Creator. Many devout scientists have found different ways to reconcile their scientific views on the origin of the universe with their belief in God.

With respect to beliefs about the origin of man, the relevant article in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism emphasizes the point that acceptance of essential doctrinal claims rather than belief in a particular modus operandi for the creation of man is ultimately the determinant of Mormon orthodoxy (J. L. Sorenson, Origin, p. 1053). As evidence of current LDS openness to the study of the latest scientific advances in relevant fields, note that the first formal class in evolution was instituted at BYU in the fall of 1971 with the First Presidency’s approval, and is currently a required part of the core curriculum of all BYU students in the biological sciences. Evolutionary biology has since become “one of the largest and most successful graduate programs at BYU” (M. R. Ash, Myth, pp. 32-33), with professors publishing in major evolutionary conferences and journals. Givens provides a brief summary of efforts of Mormon scientists that “not only incorporate evolutionary science, but break new ground in the field” (T. L. Givens, Paradox, pp. 209-210, 378-379 nn. 59-64). While differences of opinions exist among members of the Church on such matters, the key point is that such differences are not used as an ecclesiastical measure of orthodoxy.

[David] What are the principal lessons from the Book of Moses that you have tried to share with readers through this book?

[Dr. Jeff Bradshaw] While most of the world looks on the story of Adam and Eve as a simple collection of childish myths, it is my hope that Latter-day Saints will increasingly appreciate the spiritual sophistication and doctrinal depth of this unique book of scripture. In light of the importance in of these stories in our temple worship, we might say that no book of scripture is more important for us to study and understand. Elder David A. Bednar has emphasized that mere reading is not enough—to be most effective, our scriptural regimen should include prayer, work, consistency, pondering, looking for patterns and connections, and writing down our impressions (http://www.byui.edu/Presentations/Transcripts/Devotionals/1998_01_06_Bednar.htm ).

I was fortunate to have taken a course on reading the scriptures from BYU Professor Arthur Henry King that changed my life in important ways (for a collection of his essays, see Arthur Henry King, Arm the Children: Faith’s Response to a Violent World, ed. Daryl Hague. Provo, UT: BYU Studies, 1998). Brother King’s approach emphasized slow and careful reading, with frequent pauses to raise questions in a spirit of humility and to ponder one’s personal response to the text (see Dennis and Sandra Packard, Feasting Upon the Word. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1981).

By way of contrast, Kugel notes the “subtle shift in tone” that has come with “the emphasis on reading the Bible [solely] in human terms and in its historical context” without the counterbalance provided by traditional forms of scripture reading:

As modern biblical scholarship gained momentum, studying the Bible itself was joined with, and eventually overshadowed by, studying the historical reality behind the text (including how the text itself came to be). In the process, learning from the Bible gradually turned into learning about it. Such a shift might seem slight at first, but ultimately it changed a great deal. The person who seeks to learn from the Bible is smaller than the text; he crouches at its feet, waiting for its instruction or insights. Learning about the text generates the opposite posture. The text moves from subject to object; it no longer speaks but is spoken about, analyzed, and acted upon. The insights are now all the reader’s, not the text’s, and anyone can see the results. This difference in tone, as much as any specific insight or theory, is what has created the great gap between the Bible of ancient interpreters and that of modern scholars. (J. L. Kugel, How to Read, p. 666).

Latter-day Saints recognize, of course, that the Bible is not inerrant. Indeed, our people have always tried to avoid both the extremes of literalism and liberalism with respect to the historicity of the Bible (See Reverence for the Bible at http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/reverence-for-the-bible ). Although the belief that the characters mentioned in Genesis are actual historical figures who underwent something that was somehow like the events described in the biblical account has always been held firmly by the Saints, Nibley observes that we also bring ridicule and disillusionment upon ourselves when we fail to pursue scriptural understanding beyond the initial level of vivid picture images inculcated upon the minds of young children:

The stories of the Garden of Eden and the Flood have always furnished unbelievers with their best ammunition against believers, because they are the easiest to visualize, popularize, and satirize of any Bible accounts. Everyone has seen a garden and been caught in a pouring rain. It requires no effort of imagination for a six-year-old to convert concise and straightforward Sunday-school recitals into the vivid images that will stay with him for the rest of his life. These stories retain the form of the nursery tales they assume in the imaginations of small children, to be defended by grown-ups who refuse to distinguish between childlike faith and thinking as a child when it is time to “put away childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:11). It is equally easy and deceptive to fall into adolescent disillusionment and with one’s emancipated teachers to smile tolerantly at the simple gullibility of bygone days, while passing stern moral judgment on the savage old God who damns Adam for eating the fruit He put in his way and, overreacting with impetuous violence, wipes out Noah’s neighbors simply for making fun of his boat-building on a fine summer’s day. (H. W. Nibley, Before Adam, p. 63)

As an antidote to these Sunday morning cartoon perspectives on scripture, the Prophet Joseph Smith cautioned against the products of a “fanciful and flowery and heated imagination” and explained that:

… the things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity—thou must commune with God. (J. Smith, Jr., Teachings, 25 March 1839, p. 137)

It has been my prayer that what I have written, despite its insufficiencies, may be in its own way a worthy addition to the “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) of the truthfulness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and an encouragement to deeper study and appreciation of the book of Moses—and of the divine reality behind it that awaits our discovery.

Jeff Bradshaw and I at the Atlanta Airport

This photo was taken at the Atlanta Airport in November 2009, after Jeff and I met up “by chance” when we sat across from each other at a table there.  This was totally unplanned! I didn’t even know that he was going to be at that airport on that day. When I saw someone who looked like Jeff (I had never met him in person, but had seen photos), I quickly sent him an email, asking where he was, because there was someone sitting right in front of me that kind of looked like him!  We had a wonderful conversation until it was time for my flight to leave, and I am grateful to have met this wonderful scholar and gentleman in person.

I hope you have enjoyed this series of posts. I, personally, have learned so much from Jeff Bradshaw through our many email conversations and collaborations on projects. For an example of some of the material I’ve had the privilege of working on with him, please see his recent article about “The Vision of Moses as a Heavenly Ascent” at the Meridian Magazine website:http://www.ldsmag.com/articles/100106heavenly.html. From what I’ve come to know of him, he is a meticulous scholar, loyal family man, faithful Latter-day Saint, helpful mentor and great friend.

If you like what you’ve read here about Dr. Bradshaw and his new book on the Book of Moses (and so many more topics), the book is available now at all Eborn Bookstores (Utah: Valley Fair Mall, South Towne Centre, Provo Town Centre, and Ogden) and the BYU Bookstore. It can also be ordered directly from the publisher, Eborn Books, at Amazon.com (link), at the BYU Bookstore (link), or for a discount at the FAIR bookstore (link). The retail price is $49.99.

While my comments will draw from some of the studies I have done recently and commentaries read, the purpose of this post is not to give an in-depth or full commentary on the psalm, but to explore it just a bit and share what thoughts come to mind — just some “musings.”

First of all, this psalm seems to follow on a similar theme that we find in a large number of psalms — salvation from near death at the hands of a numerous and terrifying enemy.  The previous psalm (Ps. 17), demonstrates this same theme.

Psalm 17:6–9 (RSV)

6 I call upon thee, for thou wilt answer me, O God; incline thy ear to me, hear my words. 7 Wondrously show thy steadfast love, O savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at thy right hand. 8 Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of thy wings, 9 from the wicked who despoil me, my deadly enemies who surround me.

The psalmist calls to God, confident that he will be heard and that his Savior will keep him safe. While this is speculation on my part, it seems to me that the setting for this plea is in the Temple.  The language of God giving refuge at his right hand, to me, is imagery of the Holy of Holies in the Temple — the ultimate place of refuge, and where the king was enthroned at Yahweh’s right hand (Ps. 110:1).  I’m not sure what to make of the “apple of the eye” expression, besides what we use it for today, but it must have had some (perhaps similar) significance in that time.  ”Hide me in the shadow of thy wings”, although it likely became a cliche, signifies to me again a setting in the Holy of Holies, where the Throne of God was overshadowed by the enormous wings of the larger cherubim that stood there. Anyone who sat near (or on) the throne in the Holy of Holies would have been overshadowed by those great wings. Of course this would have later taken on a more symbolic/metaphorical sense and would have been used without any explicit association with the holy sanctuary.

After a description of the terrible nature and intents of his enemies, the psalmist makes a more urgent plea for God’s intervention.

Psalm 17:13–14

13 Arise, O LORD! confront them, overthrow them! Deliver my life from the wicked by thy sword,  14 from men by thy hand, O LORD, from men whose portion in life is of the world… 15  As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with beholding thy form.

The speaker calls upon the Lord to “arise” and fight this overwhelming battle for him. Verse 15 is very interesting — the speaker appears to fully expect to see the face of the Lord in this process of deliverance. Apparently, he is planning to go to sleep and when he awakes, he will see the “form” of the Lord. It is hard for us to reconstruct what was going on here, but this imagery must have some relation to the known ancient practice of “dream incubation.” Dream incubation was a popular ancient practice of going into the sanctuary, praying for something needed (usually healing), and then sleeping there in the temple. The expected result of this practice is that during sleep, the god (whose temple the person was in) would appear to the person in a dream and grant their petition.  If this is the case or not, the psalmist expects to somehow see God in this process.

In Psalm 18, we get a similar (if somewhat more dramatic) plea for aid to that of Ps. 17, but in this psalm we see the Lord’s response to the psalmist’s prayer. If these two psalms were not originally connected, it seems that a later editor noted the similar themes and placed them together. It almost seems that Psalm 18 is recording the thanksgiving of the psalmist for the Lord’s deliverance, explaining to us what it was that Yahweh did to answer his petition.  Also, the end of this psalm makes it clear that the speaker of this psalm is a Davidic king, the Lord’s anointed.

The psalm starts off in the general tone of Ps. 17, but this seems to be in the aftermath — the king is recounting how the Lord heard him and what he did to deliver him from his enemies. This retelling of the story is done with great relief, thanksgiving, and glorifying.  He begins by telling of the terrible situation he was in — so drastic that he felt as if he were being brought down to the very depths of the Underworld.

Psalm 18:4–6

4 The cords of death encompassed me, the torrents of perdition assailed me; 5 the cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me. 6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

The water imagery (torrents) is related to Hell/Sheol because the ancient world believed that the realm of the dead was below the great sea — so in death one would be dragged down through the waters that were around and under the earth to the pit of Sheol down below.

The king cries to the Lord for help, for deliverance from Death and Hell and informs us that indeed Yahweh hears him from his temple.  The account that follows of the incomparable power of God’s salvation is one of the most poignant in all of Scripture. Yahweh is presented as the Divine Warrior coming in his wrath to save his humble servant, using his absolute power over the forces of nature to vanquish all foes of the king and restore him to health and safety. It really is impressive!

Psalm 18:7–17

7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.  8 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.  9 He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.  10 He rode on a cherub, and flew; he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.  11 He made darkness his covering around him, his canopy thick clouds dark with water.  12 Out of the brightness before him there broke through his clouds hailstones and coals of fire.  13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire.  14 And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them.  15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare, at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.  16 He reached from on high, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.  17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.

One could write a whole post on just these verses alone! The imagery is just incredible. These are very ancient themes (the anthropomorphisms, Yahweh riding on the cherub/clouds, wielding lightning, etc.) that are generally not a part of the theology of Biblical books that were composed at later dates.

We note that the king by this point has basically descended to the Underworld, as the “channels of the sea” and the “foundations of the world” were already visible. Yahweh reaches down from on high and pulls the king up out of the chaotic waters and up to safety.  It appears that the king was nearly killed at the hands of a “strong enemy” that he could not defeat alone.

Psalm 18:19–24

19 He brought me forth into a broad place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.  20 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.  21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.  22 For all his ordinances were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me.  23 I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from guilt.  24 Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

The king was saved from (near?) death and brought forth into a “broad place.” I can’t be sure, but this seems to refer to the temple, or at least the temple grounds.  It is important to note that the king humbly recognizes that it is the Lord who saved him, and it was because of his faith and loyalty to the Lord. Because the king was obedient and followed God’s commandments, he was deemed worthy of this salvation.

Although the king had nearly lost his life to them in battle, after the Lord came to deliver him the king was miraculously strengthened and given the power to overcome his previously insurmountable enemies.  The king rejoices in God as he recounts this remarkable change of events. The king’s new-found vitality includes enormous power, as if he had been endowed with God’s own strength.

Psalm 18:28–40

28 Yea, thou dost light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness. 29 Yea, by thee I can crush a troop; and by my God I can leap over a wall. 30 This God — his way is perfect; the promise of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. 31 For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? — 32 the God who girded me with strength, and made my way safe. 33 He made my feet like hinds’ feet, and set me secure on the heights. 34 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 35 Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand supported me, and thy help made me great. 36 Thou didst give a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. 37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them; and did not turn back till they were consumed. 38 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet. 39 For thou didst gird me with strength for the battle; thou didst make my assailants sink under me. 40 Thou didst make my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed.

The Israelite king’s new power is so great that he subdues all nations and foreign peoples come to him in submission because of their great fear of Israel’s king and God.

Psalm 18:43–50

43 Thou didst deliver me from strife with the peoples; thou didst make me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me. 44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me. 45 Foreigners lost heart, and came trembling out of their fastnesses. 46 The LORD lives; and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation, 47 the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me; 48 who delivered me from my enemies; yea, thou didst exalt me above my adversaries; thou didst deliver me from men of violence. 49 For this I will extol thee, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to thy name. 50 Great triumphs he gives to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his descendants for ever.

These images are very powerful, and, frankly, they end up being unbelievable. What Israelite king was ever the “head of the nations” and ruled over foreigners that he “had not known”? Perhaps this could refer to Solomon in the days of his glory, but his kingdom was never quite large enough to fully merit this type of talk. In some psalms (see esp. 72:11, 17), it is specified that all nations should bow before the king of Israel!  It should be noted that this was common talk in the ancient world for kings — in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and elsewhere — the king was seen as the ruler of the whole Earth.  The language presented in the Hebrew psalter is no different. But I believe that there was a reason for this. There was an ideology for the office of kingship that was greater than the man himself.  The king was the Lord’s anointed — the Messiah — and was understood to be the beloved son of God (Pss. 2; 108:6; 2 Sam. 7:14).  As we read in this psalm, the king counts himself as “blameless” before God and “free of guilt.” However, the kings were definitely mortal men — not sinless and virtually omnipotent as portrayed.  I believe that we should see this very idealistic picture of kingship not as the arrogance of the king, but as an ideal.  The kings were playing a role here — there was an ideal King (and not just God in Heaven, but an ideal earthly King) who they expected to fulfill this imagery to its fullest extent.

In fact, despite the heading of this psalm declaring that the historical setting of this psalm is the day of David’s victory over Saul, many scholars have concluded that the most likely “life setting” of this psalm was that of a ritual performed at the enthronement festival of the king.  If this psalm were describing any real battle, it is quite clear that the author idealized the battle beyond recognition!

Commenting on Psalm 18, British scholar John Eaton affirms:

To sum up: the psalm is best taken to describe a liturgical (ritual) salvation, if other psalms also indicate the existence of such rites. The psalm expresses the confirmation of the king as Yahweh’s vice-regent and so was probably connected with the enthronement or renewal rites. There is evidence also of its integration in the annual liturgy asserting the Creator-kingship of Yahweh.

(John H. Eaton, Kingship and the Psalms, (London: SCM Press, 1976), p. 116)

Aubrey R. Johnson, in his book Sacral Kingship in Ancient Israel, makes this psalm part of his reconstruction of a series of rituals that involved the king at the annual New Year Festival. In a ritualized battle (played by actors), the king is almost defeated by the forces of evil until, at dawn, Yahweh intervenes to save the king in answer to his pleas. The humiliation/defeat of the king may have involved his being lowered into the waters of Gihon (symbolizing the Waters of Chaos leading to Death) in a baptismal-like ritual. The king emerges from the waters and is anointed — resulting in new life and power from God. He defeats his enemies and is carried triumphant up the sacred hill to the temple, where he is (re)enthroned in glory, ruler over all nations.

It is my opinion that this ritual served to remember both the primordial victory and enthronement of Yahweh, establish the authority of the current Davidic king as God’s anointed, and look forward to a future Davidic King who would be the beloved Son of God (and Yahweh incarnated on Earth) and who would fulfill the grandeur of all this ideology.  It emphasized the idea of the “Suffering Servant” that we read about in Isaiah, one who would suffer, be humiliated, and even die — but then be raised from death by God. He would then be seated on the Throne of God to rule over the whole Earth.

What I do want to share with you is from something I’ve been reading (not necessarily Christmas-related, but not far off). Then I’d like to share some links to some good articles that are more Christmas-themed.

As part of my research for my dissertation, I’ve been looking at a book by British scholar Crispin Fletcher-Louis entitled All the Glory of Adam: Liturgical Anthropology in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Fletcher-Louis, who seems to have some connections to Margaret Barker, has done some great research here, and although his ideas are not accepted by all, he presents a lot of exciting and insightful material.

I just wanted to share a couple of excerpts from my “Christmas” reading. All the Glory of Adam attempts to make sense of the Qumran community’s concept of “divine humanity.” There is much language in the Dead Sea Scrolls that indicates that the community who produced (or at least used) those texts believed that humans could become either angelic or divine (I don’t believe there was much of a difference between angelic or divine, but there is language of humans both becoming angels and becoming gods).

Fletcher-Louis notes that in these texts:

…there seems to be a claim which is usually implicit, but…at other times explicit, that true humanity, as it is restored among the elect, is both angelomorphic and divine (All the Glory of Adam, p. 12, emphasis in original).

The author discusses at length the Qumran and other Second Temple literature that describe what he terms “angelomorphic humanity.” It is quite well established that in this period, at least some Jews (who felt that their belief was orthodox), believed that humans, especially kings, prophets, and priests, were considered to have an angelic status, at least in ritual/cultic settings. He notes, however, that humans are also often described as “gods.” He says:

More startling [than the angelomorphic language] are those statements to the effect that the transformed humanity are “gods”. This is a more persistent and widespread feature of the texts than would permit us to conclude such language is merely an accommodation to Hellenism in which some Jews on the periphery of “orthodoxy” indulged. Already in the biblical texts Moses is “as God [elohim, theos] to Pharaoh” (Exo. 7:1) and the king is hailed as (a) god in Psalm 45:6 (cf. Zech 12:8). Exodus is probably behind Sirach’s ascription of the [elohim] status to Moses in Sirach 45:2. In Jubilees Joseph is acclaimed “god, god, mighty one of God” and in Joseph and Aseneth Jacob is “a god [theos]” to Aseneth.

The existence of god language for humanity within Jewish texts is more remarkable than angel language because of the way in which in the Second Temple period angelology replaced the polytheism of the pre-exilic period. However, just as many biblical and post biblical texts continued to speak of many “gods” (elim, elohim, theoi) with the understanding that these were “angelic” beings on a distinctly lower level of reality than God himself, so it seems there remained the freedom to speak of human as “divine” in similar terms and in certain circumstances. In texts such as those gathered around Moses and Exodus 7:1 there is stressed the fact that Moses’ “divinity” is no independent of that of God himself but is strictly bestowed by the creator of all. This may offend traditional Jewish and Christian views of divinity as a strictly independent, uncreated reality, but it should be remembered that in the ancient world the begetting and creating of gods (theogony) was a much more acceptable notion then than it is now.

The presence of “god” language for humanity in texts as far apart as Sirach, Jubilees, Philo and the rabbis testifies to the degree to which such language was widely spread and accepted in late Second Temple Judaism. (pp. 85-86)

While all of these are very interesting and important statements, I was even more pleased to find that Fletcher-Louis locates the root of all these beliefs in the correct life setting: the Temple and its rituals. He states:

...the principal socio-religious life setting for a Jewish divine anthropology, particularly in its earlier formative stages of development, was the Jewish Temple, its sacred space and priesthood…(p. 5, emphasis in original).

In other words, the proper setting for and origin of this language of humans becoming angels and/or gods, is in the rituals and liturgy of the Temple of Jerusalem.  Very interesting…

So I guess that’s the message I wanted to leave you with this Christmas. As St. Athanasius once wrote (and as is written in the Catechism of the Catholic Church): “For the Son of God became man so that man could become God.” Just as there are many who believe that God came down to earth and became man, so there have also been many that believed that the true destiny and potential of mankind is to become like God.  That is why Christ came down to us — to provide a way for us to, following his example, become like his Father.

As I promised, some great Christmas themed reads:

Jeffrey M. Bradshaw has a great series of articles at Meridian Magazine:

Adam and Christ, Eve and Mary at Christmas Time

Temple Themes in Luke’s Account of the Angels and the Shepherds

Also, check out a similar post at www.templestudy.com, by Bryce Haymond:

Who Were the Shepherds in the Christmas Story?

I’m sure there are lots of others, and if you know of any good ones, please let me know! Above all, I wish you a Merry Christmas from bonnie (and currently snow-covered) Scotland!  May this New Year be full of abundant blessings and new wisdom from God!

Warmest wishes,

David Larsen

Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism – Sunday 4pm

April De Conick

Star Gates: What Were the Gnostics Doing?

The Peratics (perasai, Greek for “Transcendentalists”) say:

We alone have known that genesis is necessary and (we alone have known) have know the roads by which humans have entered into the cosmos. We have been instructed precisely so we alone can pass through and treverse over the perishable. Hip. Ref. 5:16.1

We generally think that Gnostics didn’t know astrology, that it wasn’t a scientific knowledge – W. Forester (in his collection of Gnostic texts) failed to translate the chapter on astrological statements – he evidently considered them not relevant to Gnosticism.

We must become acquainted with ancient cosmology (cosmic architecture) to understand what the Gnostics were doing.

Earth is the navel of the cosmos – in the middle of the earth is a pole (axis mundi) — the earth is stationary and the various  celestial spheres revolve around it.

The sublunar realm includes

• The Earth
• Tartarus
• The Skies
• The Firmament

The Heavens include:

• the seven planetary spheres
• one zodiacal sphere
• these were considered to be deities

The zodiac band crosses the horizon and is divided into twelve units–zodiacal signs. The stars wander below zodiacal band. Each zodiac sign was a “place” or “house”. Each of the planets rules over a particular sign.

Egyptian Decans (groups of stars) – had 36 divisions instead of 12 – each was a deity – 72 spirits for every 5 degrees of the zodiac for a total of 365 gods.

The Egyptian system was merged into the Greco-Roman system. There were seven main rulers whose houses have a number of assistants. These assistants became demons and the fallen angels. They needed to be regularly appeased with acts of magic.

The skies were populated by demonic archons for the Gnostics. In their view, the Jewish creator god (demiurge) was a powerful, but angry god.

A common Gnostic belief existed that there are paths that allow for a journey out of cosmos into heavens beyond – these stem from a mix of Egyptian, Greek, Jewish, Christian religions. The Gnostics claimed to know certain  greetings, prayers, and secret words that were necessary to pass through the “stargates” into the heavens. For example, they were required to know and give the correct names of all gods that they would have to pass by.

They knew of three journeys that one would have to undertake:

–1^st journey is through the sublunar realm and Hades, beginning at the soul’s release from the body

–2^nd jouney is through the several planetary spheres and the zodiac, beginning at the star or planet gate

–3^rd journey is through the transcosmic realm beginning at the star or planet gate

In the first journey, the individual would have to pass through waters of Tartarus before reaching the heavens.

One must pass the “twelve controlled pyramid” – the guardians of the zodiac. He/she goes through a  gate in the zodiac pyramid which Chronos and assistants guard.

Ou, Aoai, Ouo, Ouoab –  are the first four names of assistant guardians (the fifth name isn’t given).

–Soclam (= Egyptian Osiris) guards hours of the night

–Uno (Isis) guards hours of the day

Why did the Peratics write down the names of gods/demons? These were the deities that soul would initially meet after death. They have the charge of judging the dead on their journey to Hades – they control the fate of the soul after death and before re-embodiment.

The “hymn” of the guardian controls a chasm filled with water in the deepest depths of Tartarus

–Book of Suburbs ? –- the soul is escorted to a chasm – there are two chasms on the left and two on the right. The left go to prison, the right go to heaven. If you are allowed to take the chasm on the right, you journey four days until you reach a pillar of light, then go up the pillar to heaven. Those going down the chasm on the left end up drinking from the forgetful river.

Chronos is understood as a likeness of the Red Sea that one must cross before reaching heaven. The Gnostics had passwords, names, and seals necessary to cross the waters and enter the gate that opens up to Zodiac.

Book 4 of Pistis Sophia – the gates of hell open and release prisoners when certain signs of the zodiac align – souls enter the zodiac before being embodied again. These gates are located at intersection of milky way and the zodiac or at different zodiacal signs.

Sometimes the focus is on planetary gates – the sun and moon, etc. Sometimes the journey is described as an ascent through the sun and descent through the moon or vice versa. The descent through the several planets to the earth involves a series of changes from the  spiritual body to the physical.

On the way one has to get past Chronos and his five assistants and the five chasms. This involves offering prayers to persuade them to let you past.

The planetary spheres are likened to the “desert” of Israel. On the way, one meets fiery serpents who attack the individual. These are also symbolized as stars who want to return them to the world and to their body – the stars are like serpents. In order to pass by these unharmed, one must gaze to the top of the planetary spheres to the constellation “Draco the Serpent”, who is Christ. Draco is located at the roof of the cosmic dome – he started this pattern of ascent and descent. He gets power from the Father and passes it to humans.

The Father is above Draco and is the source of his powers. In some traditions, the Demiurge is the evil god who transfers heavenly powers to earth. Draco is also the river that flows out of Eden and flows to heaven.

Knowing the secrets of Draco causes rebirth and ability to travel to realm of the Father – one must go through Draco/Christ  –you are drawn up like a magnet through him.

Chronos must be crossed and the individual must pass through his gate into the Zodiac. The stars and planets must be overcome and then the individual must travel up the tail of Draco to his mouth and then be spit out into the heavens. Then he/she can travel to the realm of the Father, which is far above the heavens in his own realm.

After the presentation, in the discussion period, this question was asked by BYU professor John Hall:

John Hall – As I listened to your presentation, there is a correspondence on every point with the ancient Egyptian cult. Has ancient Egyptian religion been kept alive in Gnostic tradition?

April DeConick – Yes, I do believe so. The names of the deities are preserved.  Egyptian and Greek myths are both preserved in Gnosticism – its a synthesis of all these national religions.

(I take responsibility for the contents of these notes. They are but my own paraphrasing of what she said in her presentation, and are missing a good amount of the detail she put into it. Hopefully these notes help provide, in a small way, some of the great insights that she meant to pass on.)

In God’s Image and Likeness: Ancient and Modern Perspectives on the Book of Moses

A few words of background… I have had the pleasure of working with Jeff on a number of issues, especially concerning the similarities between the Book of Moses and ancient pseudepigraphal texts such as the Apocalypse of Abraham. He presented some of our findings (I must admit that he did most of the work!) at the FAIR conferences in both France and Germany earlier this year, and later at an Eborn Books event in August, under the title  ”The Apocalypse of Abraham: An Ancient Witness for the Book of Moses.” We are currently preparing a related article under the working title: “The Vision of Moses as a heavenly ascent: New light from the Apocalypse of Abraham.”

In all my many interactions with Jeff, I have found him to be extremely knowledgeable and informed on a vast array of topics, from LDS doctrine and history to ancient Jewish and Christian religious texts and quite literally everything in between! He is a constant and dependable source of insights — and I have found that when I have questions and problems in my own research, I can always go to Jeff to find some hidden treasure that helps unlock the mysteries. On a personal note, I have found Jeff to be a very kind individual, and while highly dedicated to his work, he is very generous with his time. He is both well-informed in biblical scholarship and profoundly committed to his faith. I definitely expect to see more great things to come from Jeff, just because that is his nature.

This new book, as I’ve come to know, has been the work of countless hours of research, deep thought, and, I’m sure, a good amount of prayer.  Although still working hard as a Senior Research Scientist at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) in Pensacola, Florida, which has him travelling all over the world,  he has made time to produce an enormous work of well over a thousand pages of concise, relevant and highly significant findings on the first chapters of the Book of Moses (from the LDS Pearl of Great Price), including in his analysis prophetic insights, excerpts from ancient texts, current scientific perspectives, and up-to-date biblical scholarship relevant to this profound revelation. He looks at the stories of the Grand Councils in Heaven, the Creation, the Fall, the Plan of Salvation and other doctrines that are foundational to our faith and which are given especial clarity in the Book of Moses.  Dr. Bradshaw puts this all into perspective by taking into account the vast ancient literature provided by Jewish commentators, Islamic scholars, and early Christian Fathers, and adds to it his own expertise on these matters and his insights into the perennial controversies over science and religion.

This volume is amazingly comprehensive, covering an incredible array of doctrinal issues, and will prove to be an invaluable and irreplaceable resource on the Book of Moses and other related issues for the foreseeable future. I couldn’t recommend it more highly.

From the website dedicated to the book, http://www.imageandlikeness.net:

The central message of the book of Moses is not revealed in its stories of the Creation and the Fall, as essential as these accounts may be, but rather in its description of the foundations of human perfection. In God’s Image and Likeness is the most comprehensive commentary ever published on the beautiful and doctrinally-rich Joseph Smith Translation of the early chapters of Genesis.

The book has been printed and limited quantities will begin to appear in selected bookstores by Christmas 2009. It can currently be ordered directly from the publisher, Eborn Books, at Amazon.com (link). The retail price is $49.99.

It is with great gratitude and sincere pleasure that I share with you the first post of a multi-part conversation with Jeffrey Bradshaw regarding his thoughts on the Book of Moses and the upcoming release of his publication.

Questions for Jeff Bradshaw on In God’s Image and Likeness

[David] What were some of the reasons you decided to make the Book of Moses your subject? What did you hope to contribute with your volume that previous treatments have not covered?

[Dr. Jeffrey Bradshaw] I have loved the book of Genesis since I was a child. I’ve tried to write the kind of book that I should have liked to have had at the beginning of my own study, if only it had been, in addition, written by someone with better credentials in the relevant fields of scholarship than I can claim. I wanted to make as many of the relevant resources—both from inside and outside the LDS tradition—available and accessible to amateurs like myself.

The beauty and richness of the book of Moses is incredible and intimidating. Not only do we have in these few pages the foundations of LDS doctrine about the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement, but also, from a literary perspective, we are looking at one of the most subtly-written prose accounts ever composed. Apart from the life of Christ, these stories of the beginning have been the subject of more commentary, art, and music than any other subject in the Bible, and parallel accounts of great interest have been found in religious traditions around the world. Many of the ancient documents have only come to light in recent decades. The basic questions raised by science are also found here, and cannot be ignored in any serious treatment of this book of scripture. I felt that all of these major sources and perspectives—the prophetic commentary, the traditions of world religions, the art, the scholarship, the science—needed to be adequately represented in the commentary.

Of very personal significance is the extent to which a careful study of the book of Moses has enriched my experience of temple worship. In return, insights received in the course of temple worship have added immeasurably to my appreciation and understanding of the book of Moses.

[David]At over 1000 pages long, a comprehensive commentary, hundreds of notes, an amazing array of colorful images and instructive diagrams, dozens of excurses and a long appendix, an incredible bibliography, and exhaustive (and very helpful) indices, this is a truly monumental and formidable piece of writing. May I ask how long you have worked on this project and what kind of time commitment went into its production? How do you feel now that it is finished and prepared for publication?

[Dr. Jeffrey Bradshaw] The project came to be during a year-long stay in Toulouse, France. Our family’s move there came unexpectedly, on the heels of Hurricane Ivan which destroyed our home in Pensacola, Florida. The whole experience turned out to be a blessing in many ways.

Being in Europe allowed me to have a few hours of study and writing each morning before my colleagues in the USA woke up. In addition, my work requires quite a bit of travel. Because I could sometimes squeeze in a little extra time when I was traveling, I got used to taking an extra bag with seventy pounds of books along with me wherever I went. (Fortunately, the airlines were a bit more generous on baggage allowances at that time than they are now.)

Once the idea took hold, the book almost wrote itself. I’ve never had another writing project where the words and ideas came so easily. I started writing the overview of Moses 1 in September 2005, and by the end of 2006, a little over a year from when I began, I had a fairly complete draft in hand of all the commentary chapters and significant portions of the excursus, appendix, and annotated bibliography.

[David] What were some of the main obstacles that you encountered as you were working on this project?

[Dr. Jeffrey Bradshaw] Publication turned out to be the most challenging part of the process. In the spring of 2006, I signed an agreement with an LDS publisher, and had expected that the book would appear sometime in 2007. Eventually, given continuing uncertainties about schedule, price, and production quality, I proposed that we part ways.

When I approached Bret Eborn about the project in January 2009, he was immediately enthusiastic. There was no question in his mind that this had to be a publication of the highest quality, including 1100 offset-printed pages in large 8 ½ x 11 format, a substantial color plates section, a durable hardcover binding, and a beautiful full-color dust jacket. Moreover, when we realized that the demanding production requirements and the relatively small size of the print run would normally entail a retail price of about $120, he came up with a creative solution to subsidize the printing costs so we could keep the price below $50. A handful of very generous benefactors purchased copies of a deluxe leather edition of the book that made this price reduction possible. I don’t know of any other LDS publisher besides Eborn who would have been able and willing to take on such a large and complex project on such an aggressive schedule.

In retrospect, the previous publication delays turned out to be a blessing, allowing my son Samuel and I to take on the responsibility ourselves for book design, typesetting, and indexing. I can’t imagine anyone else being willing to go through what we did in order to execute our vision for the look and feel of the volume. In addition, the delays allowed me to continue to tinker with the content of the manuscript itself up to the very last minute: adding new ideas and sources, correcting errors, and smoothing out awkward phrasing.

[David] What is the significance of the title In God’s Image and Likeness? What aspects of the Book of Moses do you hope to emphasize?

[Dr. Jeffrey Bradshaw] A wonderful book by Gary A. Anderson, called The Genesis of Perfection, provided the spark of inspiration for the title. His premise is that the story of Adam and Eve “is not an account of sin alone but the beginning of a drama about becoming a being who fully reflects God’s very own image. Genesis is not only about the origins of sin; it is also about the foundations of human perfection. The work that God has begun in Creation He will bring to completion.… [E]arly Jewish and Christian readers [were] aware of this while most of their modern counterparts have not been” (p. 8).

In reading that passage, I realized that no group of Christians are more fully justified in believing such assertions than we are. No other body of contemporary Christians takes more seriously than we do the words of Christ when He commanded His followers to be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect (see Matthew 5:48; 3 Nephi 12:48). By this we mean not only wholly like Him in character, but also, eventually, fully resembling Him in glorious resurrected bodily form.

In considering these ideas, it also became clear to me that the stories of the Creation and the Fall in Moses 1-4, as essential as they are, are but prologue to the account of the unfolding of a progressive series of covenants given in Moses 5-8. In the book of Moses, we read that through faithfulness to each of these covenants, including the final covenant of consecration, Enoch and his people became “of one heart and one mind” (Moses 7:18), and were taken up to walk in the presence of God. With similar intent, the book of Moses seems to have been expressly written to “call [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Note Mercy Fielding Thompson’s recollection that the Prophet Joseph Smith specifically applied these words to the blessings of the temple endowment (“Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Juvenile Instructor, 1 July 1892, p. 400, cited in Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, p. 414).

To be continued…

Please check back soon for more from Dr. Jeffrey Bradshaw on this powerful and enlightening new book. Please see www.imageandlikeness.net for more information about the book and its author.